Software helps sheriff solve property crimes

Residential break-ins, larcenies falling in Henderson County

Published: Friday, May 24, 2013 at 9:00 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, May 24, 2013 at 5:31 p.m.

A white mask in a black box popped up in a crop of other masks on a computerized map of Henderson County Thursday afternoon. It marked the scene of yet another burglary.

“As I returned home, I drove in my driveway and this young guy was going around the back, and he's been in my house. He had a whole bag of stuff,” an 85-year-old woman told 911 as she tried to catch her breath. “It looked like a pillowcase. He probably got something out of my house.”

Dispatchers have heard similar calls before. Homes in the county have been plagued by nearly 600 residential break-ins and burglaries each year for the past three years, Sheriff Charles McDonald told county commissioners in January. His office is on a mission to slash those crimes by 12 percent by February, and officers are well on their way of meeting that goal.

According to a sheriff's budget request sent to the county, residential break-ins and larcenies are down between 6.5 and 10 percent so far this fiscal year.

Patrol, investigations, a newly formed Directed Enforcement Unit and nearly everyone in the department, from communications to the detention center, is pitching in to gather intelligence and target the goal.

Step one: Map it out.

The Henderson County Sheriff's Office used drug seizure money last year to purchase crime-mapping software to look at trends in crimes as they occur, helping officers impact criminals in ways not attempted here before.

The map went active on the sheriff's website earlier this year and can be viewed at www.crimemapping.com/map/nc/hendersoncounty.

On any given week, the new map is littered with symbols for robbery, larceny, vandalism, burglary and vehicle break-ins. The interactive symbols give officers insights to crime patterns, allowing them to better guess of where criminals might strike next.

Four deputies led by an in-house crime analyst, Darrin Whitaker, make up the Directed Enforcement Unit, tasked with targeting residential break-ins and burglaries. Coupled with a new atmosphere of teamwork intelligence and extra eyes in crime hotspots, the unit is investigating a suspected ring of thieves. Deputies arrested their first man in the case on Monday.

Byron Shane Ward, 42, has been charged with 30 counts, including larceny and breaking-and-entering, in relation to a crime spree deputies say targeted construction sites, homes, businesses and motor vehicles in four counties and South Carolina.

Ward is a “known criminal with an extensive record,” Stout said. When deputies picked him up in the past on other charges, “he'd come into court, get bonded out and go back to stealing the next day,” he added.

Ward remained in custody Friday in lieu of $126,500 bond. More charges and more arrests in the case are expected as the investigation continues.

On another case Tuesday, officers picked up Phillip Eric Stanford, 42, of 1191 Upward Road and charged him with multiple counts relating to larcenies after they say he swiped metal and sold it to a local scrap yard.

Patrol deputies arrested a suspect they linked to five or six break-ins and burglaries that occurred within a matter of hours in the South Lake Summit area on Tuesday. They found William Cody Clark, 21, of 382 Old Greenville Highway, impaired, bleeding and lying in a ditch near Green River Volunteer Fire and Rescue.

Stout said Clark appeared to have gotten cuts on his arms and hands while breaking into buildings. “He had run out of his tennis shoes” and was wearing a pair of stolen wake-board boots when deputies found him, Stout added.

The distinct track of the boots, a trail of blood and good old fashioned “hard-nosed police work” led deputies to several residences and buildings in the area that they believe Clark targeted. They also found his stash — a flat-screen TV and other electronics, a flashlight and a key to a pontoon boat from Camp Greystone.

Under the South Lake Summit bridge, officers found a stolen bicycle, valued at $1,100, and a Boston Whaler boat that Stout says Clark took for a cruise down the lake.

Clark was charged with six counts of felonious breaking and entering, four counts of felonious larceny after breaking and entering, four counts of felonious possession of stolen property, three counts of misdemeanor injury to personal property and one count of felonious larceny regarding a 2003 Boston Whaler boat belonging to Camp Greystone.

The Sheriff's Office is requesting $1,062,440 in extra funding from the county for the budget year that will begin July 1 to cover, among other things, five positions to replace the officers now staffing the Directed Enforcement Unit.

<p>A white mask in a black box popped up in a crop of other masks on a computerized map of Henderson County Thursday afternoon. It marked the scene of yet another burglary. </p><p>“As I returned home, I drove in my driveway and this young guy was going around the back, and he's been in my house. He had a whole bag of stuff,” an 85-year-old woman told 911 as she tried to catch her breath. “It looked like a pillowcase. He probably got something out of my house.”</p><p>Dispatchers have heard similar calls before. Homes in the county have been plagued by nearly 600 residential break-ins and burglaries each year for the past three years, Sheriff Charles McDonald told county commissioners in January. His office is on a mission to slash those crimes by 12 percent by February, and officers are well on their way of meeting that goal.</p><p>According to a sheriff's budget request sent to the county, residential break-ins and larcenies are down between 6.5 and 10 percent so far this fiscal year.</p><p>Patrol, investigations, a newly formed Directed Enforcement Unit and nearly everyone in the department, from communications to the detention center, is pitching in to gather intelligence and target the goal. </p><p>Step one: Map it out.</p><p>The Henderson County Sheriff's Office used drug seizure money last year to purchase crime-mapping software to look at trends in crimes as they occur, helping officers impact criminals in ways not attempted here before.</p><p>The map went active on the sheriff's website earlier this year and can be viewed at www.crimemapping.com/map/nc/hendersoncounty.</p><p>On any given week, the new map is littered with symbols for robbery, larceny, vandalism, burglary and vehicle break-ins. The interactive symbols give officers insights to crime patterns, allowing them to better guess of where criminals might strike next.</p><p>We're “trying to throw everything we've got at the criminal element,” said Maj. Frank Stout, sheriff's office spokesman.</p><p>Four deputies led by an in-house crime analyst, Darrin Whitaker, make up the Directed Enforcement Unit, tasked with targeting residential break-ins and burglaries. Coupled with a new atmosphere of teamwork intelligence and extra eyes in crime hotspots, the unit is investigating a suspected ring of thieves. Deputies arrested their first man in the case on Monday.</p><p>Byron Shane Ward, 42, has been charged with 30 counts, including larceny and breaking-and-entering, in relation to a crime spree deputies say targeted construction sites, homes, businesses and motor vehicles in four counties and South Carolina. </p><p>Ward is a “known criminal with an extensive record,” Stout said. When deputies picked him up in the past on other charges, “he'd come into court, get bonded out and go back to stealing the next day,” he added.</p><p>Ward remained in custody Friday in lieu of $126,500 bond. More charges and more arrests in the case are expected as the investigation continues.</p><p>On another case Tuesday, officers picked up Phillip Eric Stanford, 42, of 1191 Upward Road and charged him with multiple counts relating to larcenies after they say he swiped metal and sold it to a local scrap yard.</p><p>Patrol deputies arrested a suspect they linked to five or six break-ins and burglaries that occurred within a matter of hours in the South Lake Summit area on Tuesday. They found William Cody Clark, 21, of 382 Old Greenville Highway, impaired, bleeding and lying in a ditch near Green River Volunteer Fire and Rescue. </p><p>Stout said Clark appeared to have gotten cuts on his arms and hands while breaking into buildings. “He had run out of his tennis shoes” and was wearing a pair of stolen wake-board boots when deputies found him, Stout added.</p><p>The distinct track of the boots, a trail of blood and good old fashioned “hard-nosed police work” led deputies to several residences and buildings in the area that they believe Clark targeted. They also found his stash — a flat-screen TV and other electronics, a flashlight and a key to a pontoon boat from Camp Greystone.</p><p>Under the South Lake Summit bridge, officers found a stolen bicycle, valued at $1,100, and a Boston Whaler boat that Stout says Clark took for a cruise down the lake.</p><p>Clark was charged with six counts of felonious breaking and entering, four counts of felonious larceny after breaking and entering, four counts of felonious possession of stolen property, three counts of misdemeanor injury to personal property and one count of felonious larceny regarding a 2003 Boston Whaler boat belonging to Camp Greystone.</p><p>The Sheriff's Office is requesting $1,062,440 in extra funding from the county for the budget year that will begin July 1 to cover, among other things, five positions to replace the officers now staffing the Directed Enforcement Unit.</p><p>Reach Weaver at emily.weaver@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7867.</p>